Emotional
by golden gibberish
Summary: One-shot. After a very emotional movie, Bruce gets a little mad when Tony implies he doesn't have any. Bruce gives a rant and the Avengers get an insight into the man's life. No pairing, no romance, no OC.


Movie night.

It sounded so cheesy.

Bruce wasn't sure who organized it and forced them all to come.

Maybe Tony. Tony was always doing things like that.

Maybe it was Steve. Steve was very adamant that they should all become closer so that they could work together better.

Or could it be Thor? He might have run into it in his 'Midgardian' studies, and decided it would be a great male bonding exercise.

(Yes, he knew Natasha wasn't a guy, but it was annoying saying 'men and a woman' and 'guys and also that one girl'.)

In any case, the Avengers had an Avengers movie night.

It had been rather awkward the first few times. (Well, it was still awkward, but less so.) After all, no one knew anybody.

Except Natasha. Natasha apparently knew Tony. Seems she had been undercover as his secretary or something. Why, he didn't know.

She also knew Clint. Bruce wasn't even going to try to understand that relationship. (He guessed it had to do with guns, blood, and quite a lot of alcohol.)

Anyway.

Movie night.

And no one was letting Bruce get out of it.

This time it was Steve's turn to pick the movie.

The last few times it had been romantic comedies, action adventure, sci-fi, etc.

Bruce had a feeling that the Captain was going to pick something different.

And he did.

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Steve shyly held up a movie. "I thought that this might be a good one… And it's about my time and all…"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Great. A grandpa movie."

"It looks wonderful, Steve," Bruce interjected, diffusing the situation. Steve nodded gratefully to Bruce and put the movie in.

Schindler's List.

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By the end of the movie, everyone was silent. Steve might have had tears in his eyes. Natasha and Clint were wrapped in the same blanket, his head on her shoulder. Thor was shaking his head (astounded by both the cruelness and kindness of these mortals. Perhaps they were not so backward as he and his people had thought). Even Tony had shut up.

Bruce leaned over to Steve. "Hey, you alright?"

"Yes, thank-"

"You wouldn't know if he was, though, would you?" Tony asked suddenly.

What?

Everyone in the room winced.

Quietly and slowly, Bruce asked, "Excuse me?"

Tony didn't seem to see his danger. "What do you know about emotions? Seriously, sometimes I'm not even sure you have them."

"I see. And what grounds do you base that on?"

"Well, look at you! You never laugh, never cry, never shout – I think you gave the Hulk all your emotions!"

(Steve inwardly swore. He knew that Tony was very frank, and didn't withhold what he thought even if he'd get into trouble for saying it. And sometimes, Steve thought, that was extremely admirable. But right now it was just stupid.)

Bruce stood up. "Oh, because I don't run around laughing my ass off, or sobbing like a little kid, I don't have _emotions_? I know more about _emotions_ then you ever will!"

"Don't go there, Bruce," Tony said dangerously.

"Don't go where? You think I'm going to Hulk out?" Bruce's eyes were definitely green now. "Don't worry. Because I suppress all my _emotions_, leaving me an apparently _emotionless_ freak, I won't turn into a giant green rage monster and kill you all for fun. But that doesn't mean I don't have emotions, Tony. I feel just like all of you." He waved his hand to encompass the entire room.

(Steve tried very hard not to breathe.)

"I know what it's like to be _sad_. To feel like there's no point and your chest hurts and everyone you love is dead or gone or hates you and it's all your fault, it's all your fault, and why do you bother except you can't stop bothering and you can't kill yourself anyway." He crossed his arms to try to stop his shaking.

"I know what it's like to be _angry_. Angry because someone's hurt you, because it's not fair, everything that's happening to you or to someone else but you can't do anything about it because they're so much more powerful than you, and you want to run out and make everyone just as hurt as you are except you can't and you know it won't solve anything anyway.

"I know what it's like to be _happy_. To feel like there's this balloon in your chest and the whole world seems lighter, and everything's not perfect but that's okay, because you're alive and the person who you love loves you back, and you just feel like laughing so hard that you burst and you really don't care if anyone sees, because maybe than they'll feel happy too." His voice went low then.

"And I know what it's like to _hate_. When everything goes red and you can only see one thing, and you can't stop until you get there, and all you want to do is burn and smash and destroy, because that's what they did to you, but then suddenly it's all over and all you feel is empty.

"I know what it's like to be _scared_. Because I don't know what's happening to me and there's something wrong with me and if I can't control myself everyone's going to get hurt, but I don't know how to stop it and she's standing there and she _trusts_ me but I hurt her anyway."

Bruce was slipping into the first person.

"I know what it's like to _love_. It hurts. Because I love her so damn much and I want her to be happy and safe and she can't be that when I'm with her but I want to be with her, to make her smile and laugh and give me that look like she actually loves _me_ but I can't because _I_ love _her_."

He seemed to wilt, then, under everyone's stares. His eyes turned brown again and he stuttered, "I just… I just… never mind." Bruce quickly turned and left the room.

"Well, shit," Tony groaned, and fell back into his seat. "I didn't mean-"

"You accuse him of being a soulless robot, and then you get shocked when he blows up on you?" Clint raised an eyebrow. "You may be possibly stupider than I thought."

"I just thought that, well, maybe when he turned into the Hulk, well, it maybe-"

"Took all his emotions?" Natasha finished. "I don't think so."

(Thor was silent, watching. He didn't feel like he ought to say anything this moment. He was still to unfamiliar with humans and their ways, although he privately was glad Tony had at least brought it up. He had been worried that there might have been something wrong with Bruce, and now he understood. Also, the man _really_ needed to get some stuff off his chest.)

"All that aside, the Hulk is dangerous," Steve sighed. "I'm eternally grateful to have him – and Bruce – on our side, and I wouldn't trade him or kick him off, I want that understood, but Bruce is right. If he can't control him-"

"But he just did," Natasha argued. "Today. Right now, when Bruce was going deeper into his emotions than we've ever seen him do, and he barely turned green."

Steve's eyes widened. "You're right!"

"I am afraid I do not understand this aversion to the Hulk," Thor put in.

Clint choked. "Ah, Thor, as much as I like Big Green, he kind of does smash, well, everything."

"But does he know better?"

The archer was confused. "Sorry?"

"Has anyone taught him not to?" Thor stressed.

"Thor, I'm not sure-" Clint started.

Thor interrupted him. "Perhaps I am misunderstanding this, but is not the Hulk like a child?"

"Oh my god." Tony reeled. "He's just a kid."

"Care to explain your revelation?" Steve asked, a little crossly.

"Think about it!" the genius jumped up and started pacing. "The Hulk is mostly separate from Bruce. Almost a different mind. He retains a few things – basic speech, motor skills, etc. But he's confused. A normal child grows up, learns stuff normally, or whatever, right? But the Hulk didn't have a mother. He wasn't a baby. Brand new person in a giant, muscled body and he can barely talk. And he's angry, right? The Hulk comes out by emotion. When Bruce is angry, out pops Hulk. So all he knows is anger."

"The Hulk is just a child having a temper tantrum," Steve breathed. "Of course."

"So what do you propose we do?" Clint asked. "Put him in a school? Good luck."

"I believe we ought to start with an apology to Bruce," Thor got up. The rest followed him.

"You mean me, don't you?" Tony griped. "I'm no good at apologies."

Natasha fixed him with a glare. Tony regretted that last beer.

"Yes, ma'am."

And they went to go find Bruce.

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Thank you for reading! Reviews are stunning, and I welcome constructive criticism. Also, I would love any grammar/spelling errors pointed out.

I don't think you have to watch Schindler's List to have to understand this story, but I would recommend watching it. I don't often cry during movies or books, but this one made me sob.

I'm not sure what prompted me to write this, as Bruce is probably my least favorite Avenger. (Don't hurt me – I don't not like him! I just like everyone else more.) But I guess I sort've wondered if Bruce really was emotionless or really good at suppressing them. And then, while writing this, the whole 'he's just a kid' thing appeared on the page, and I still can't figure out where_ that_ came from.

And Tony comes out as a bit of a jerk here, which makes me sad, because I actually like Tony best. (Yes, I know he is a complete jerk, but I think there's more to him than that!)

Remember, people, Reviewing is a wonderful thing!


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